How to smooth edges in adobe photoshop CS3?

To start the tutorial please open Adobe Photoshop CS3 and click (File, New...) like the illustration shows.

Now you should name the project we are working on and set the width and height to something at or above 550x450. Please use a resolution over 90% otherwise the output will not look as smooth as it possibly could. Keep the background as white.

Now you can see our background layer and what we are going to work with. However, we will not be working on the background layer itself. We are going to create a new layer by selecting the icon on the bottom right corner of the screen that creates new layers.

Now you can see the new layer that we have created.

Now we are going to make the background not viewable so we can focus on Layer 1.

Now you can selected the Custom Shape Tool from the selection toolbar on the left side of the screen.

I have constructed an arrow with a black base so that it is easy to see the difference when you change the smoothness.

Now we are going to select the Vector Mask Thumbnail. You can do that by Control-Left Clicking on the thumbnail.

After you have selected the Vector Mask Thumbnail, we can go to the bottom of the right toolbar and select the Add Layer Mask button. This will add a layer mask to the object we have created.

Now we can select the Layer Mask Thumbnail so that we may single it out for changes. You then can select Control-D, to deselect the layer.

Now we can go to the top toolbar and select (Filter, Blur, and Gaussian Blur...). Select a ration of 4.0 pixels to make it an even blur.

Now you will see that the Layer Mask is blurred by the filter we have just implemented.

Now you can select the Layer Mask Thumbnail. You can do this by pressing Alt-Left Click to the layer mask available.

After selecting the thumbnail, select (Image, Adjustments, Levels...).

You will now see a graph with three pyramids on the edges from 0-255. The closer you bring the three triangles to the middle the smoother your object is going to look. This is where you are able to play around with how your object will look with the variances of the degrees. If you have something special in mind you can adjust this how you please. I brought my pyramids rather close to the middle. It seemed if I brought them too close the smoothness almost became too smooth to use for a picture.

Here you can see the selection I made and what it looks like on the screen.

Press "OK" and you will end up at this screen.

Now you should select the Layer Mask Thumbnail. Use a right-click to bring up a menu

The menu that you see when you right-click the Layer Mask Thumbnail will look like the illustration below. Please select the Add Layer Mask to Selection option.

You will see now that a dotted line is now around the object of the layer mask.

Now you will press Alt-Left Click on the Layer Mask Thumbnail to complete the implementation of the layer mask to the object.

Now you select Control-D to get rid of the dotted lines and deselect the Layer Mask Thumbnail.

Now you can make the background visible again and look how smoother it is on a white background after it has been smoothed.

This process to smooth the edges of objects is a great tool that anyone with a little patience can use to improve the look of their objects. It does not matter whether you are using it for pictures or for web content. I hope that this tutorial has taught you a few features that the Adobe Photoshop CS3 is capable of.

Learning to use the Photoshop toolbox

Learning to use Photoshop does not have to be difficult. In fact, the more you learn about Photoshop and the wide range of applications available the more excited you will be able the possibilities for creating professional quality images and graphics for web sites, marketing materials and more.

The Photoshop toolbox is where it all happens. Almost every single thing you do in Photoshop will involve using tools from the toolbox. Learning to use the Photoshop toolbox will require a good Photoshop tutorial but the following should give you an idea of the functions available.

The following are a list of the tools included in the Photoshop toolbox and their applications. This is not a comprehensive list but includes the most commonly used tools.

Marquee tool

This tool is part of the selection tool and allows the user to selections.

Move tool

The move tool is used to move layers and selected objects within the canvas.

Brush tool

The brush tool paints brush strokes.

History brush

You will want to learn to use the history brush tool as it can take you back to the original state of the selection. You have a lot off fun with this tool. Once you learn to use it properly you will be amazed by the professional photo effects you can produce.

Eraser tool

This tool erases solid colored areas.

Dodge tool

This tool lightens areas of your picture selectively.

Burn tool

This took make areas on your image darker. Burning and dodging are techniques that were original practiced by photographers in traditional darkrooms for the purpose of lightening or darkening images.

Type tool

The type tool is used to put text on your image.

Type Mask tool

The type mask tool is a tool located on the toolbar that allows you to create a selection in the form of text or type.

The real benefit of Photoshop over some of the lesser photo editing software applications is the toolbox. Many of the cheaper photo editing programs do not provide such a wide selection of tools allowing the user to have total control over the creative process. Photoshop puts total control over your final image in your hands. That is why so many professions use Photoshop.